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Naughton to take on Healey for attorney general

Sentinel & Enterprise

Updated:
10/24/2013 10:22:15 AM EDT

State Rep. Harold Naughton, D-Clinton, is set to announce his candidacy for attorney general this morning, running a campaign that he says will focus on gun safety, cyber-security, consumer (SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/CAROL KOZMA)

By Carol Kozma

Statehouse Correspondent

BOSTON-- State Rep. Harold Naughton, D-Clinton, is set to announce his candidacy for attorney general this morning, running a campaign that he says will focus on gun safety, cyber-security, consumer protection and small businesses.

"I like to think I don't run against anyone else. I will run for the office, present my case, present my story, talk about my experiences as a prosecutor, lawyer, soldier, Army JAG (judge advocate general), legislator and most importantly to me, a husband and dad," Naughton said Wednesday at the Statehouse.

Naughton, who also represents Lancaster, said he was motivated to seek office when, a year ago, as he was chairing a Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee hearing on infrastructure security, word came of the Newtown, Conn., school shootings.

"And then Dec. 14 and Newtown happened. It kind of took all of the energy out of the room," Naughton said.

In response, Naughton led the committee as it traveled around the state to hold five hearings on gun-control laws.

"As I was talking to people from literally North Adams to Barnstable, it became clear to me that I had built up a skill-set and that the next appropriate move and the best place that I could serve the commonwealth would be as the attorney general," Naughton said.

Naughton, 53, graduated from Assumption College in Worcester in 1982 and received his law degree from Boston's Suffolk University in 1991.

He joined the Worcester County District Attorney's office 1992, working on cases ranging from drug trafficking to homicide and home invasion.

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"Every day I would kind of come home exhausted but happy with what I had done that day, and that I had accomplished a little bit of good," he said.

Naughton said he would have been happy to remain a career prosecutor, but when a seat in the Statehouse opened in his district in 1994, he decided to run. He won and has served as a state representative ever since.

Naughton said he sees cyber-security as an issue ranging from international terrorism to cyber-bullying by adolescents.

He also wants to protect small businesses from the competition of bigger corporations, and make sure that all employees are paid the wages they are due. He also wants to protect consumers from Internet scams and other technology-driven fraud.

"The attorney general should be the people's lawyer, not just one segment, one interest group," Naughton said.

As a legislator, Naughton also built a private law practice, but felt something was still missing.

He joined the Army Reserve after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

In 2005, Naughton deployed to Baghdad, where he helped integrate due process in the country's central criminal court. He deployed again in 2011, this time to Kandahar, Afghanistan, to train security forces.

Naughton has chaired the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs, the Judiciary Subcommittee on Drug Courts and the Supreme Judicial Court Standing Committee on Substance Abuse in the Courts.

Naughton will face Assistant Attorney General Maura Healey in next September's Democratic primary. Healey, who announced her candidacy on Monday, is the only other candidate in the race thus far.

This is Healey's first run for office.

"I have my work cut out for me," Healey said. "It's early, and it's going to be a long year, and no doubts there will be ups and downs along the way."

Healey was lead counsel for the Attorney General's Office on revoking the Defense of Marriage Act, working with lawyers, constituency groups, stakeholders, businesses, academics and historians opposed to the law that barred federal recognition of same-sex marriage.

The suit led to a Supreme Court decision revoking the law.

"I learned that if you do your homework and you bring collective energy and vision and drive to an effort, you can accomplish something, and we did in that case," Healey said. "It also taught me about the importance of having the courage to lead and to take a stand and to fight."

Healey said she wants to continue focusing on issues important to the Attorney General's Office so far, including consumer protection, financial services, escalating health-care costs, environmental protection and energy needs.

Healey began working for the Attorney General's Office in 2007, as chief of the civil-rights division. By the time she left the office this month, she was overseeing the Public Protection and Advocacy Bureau and the Business and Labor Bureau. Healey also served as a special assistant district attorney in Middlesex County for seven months in 2004.

A 1993 graduate of Harvard College, she received a law degree from Northeastern in 1998.

Healey said she looks forward to getting to know Naughton better, and discussing issues.

"I fully expect others to join this race, and I think the voters are expecting and should look forward to a race with a lot of debate, discussion and exchange of ideas," she said.

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